Mary O'Rourke (Fianna Fail)

Senator Brian Hayes, the Leader of the Opposition, raised the matter of the McCartney women folk. They will visit the Houses of the Oireachtas next Tuesday, International Women's Day. We can meet them first downstairs and afterwards. Senator Hayes mentioned how admirably they have presented themselves and encouraged people to come forward. He is quite correct in that. It is interesting how quickly these women have caught the public imagination, perhaps because they are not afraid to speak out, and have admitted clearly that they were Sinn Féin voters. This, and their love for their brother, makes their case very powerful.

The Senator also raised the matter of the vote here on 19 May 2004 on the Fine Gael motion regarding the murder of Detective Garda McCabe and seeks Government time for that motion to be debated again. I do not know the logistics of such a request, or how one goes about doing that but I will look into it. He also welcomed the Bill Senator Cummins is putting forward.

Senator O'Toole welcomed Dr. Paisley's statement. Like Senator Mansergh, I never thought I would see the day when in this House we would welcome a statement from Dr. Paisley. It is a measure of our growth in the peace process. He was remarkably generous, and it was a very timely statement in which he said he was willing to go into government in the correct democratic environment. That needed to be said.

I have been conscious throughout the rightful debates about awful events, and the calls for people to be brought to account, that central to our thoughts must be the larger picture namely, that we would all live at peace on this island. It is difficult to manage all those matters.

Senator O'Toole mentioned the flu pandemic of 1917 and sought reassurance of our readiness should there be a recurrence, which we hope will not happen. I heard the Senator on radio last week explain in sterling tones that the information distributed about our expenses did not refer just to travel expenses, which is fair enough but also the telephone expenses we receive twice a year. This was not explained. I do not fault the media for this. It is the fault of the way the information was presented.

I assume the request was for the total expenses allowance for each Senator. This covers office expenses apart from telephone expenses. Some Senators pay part-time staff and various expenses are never explained. Then in one's local shop people remark that we earn a great deal and wonder how we could travel so many miles, although we have travelled them.

There is an obscure code printed beside each payment which nobody understands. It must be explained. That is up to us. Perhaps the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission, which is responsible for financial matters, would suggest to the person in the one-stop-shop who dispenses this information that the payments be correctly itemised as travelling, telephone and office expenses. Then everybody will know where the money is spent. It is quite extraordinary that this is not done. I looked at the code because those responsible show us what is being sent out but one would need to be very well versed in operations here to decipher it. The media reports what it receives. It is for us to ensure that the information dispensed is self-explanatory. Senator O'Toole did well to go on air and clearly explain the payments.

Senator Ryan spoke of the extraordinary role of the McCartney sisters. He also asked that the Health and Safety Authority run a help line. I agree with him that six people is very few to answer thousands of queries. On the first day they are bound to be under pressure but I think they have addressed that problem. The Senator says not but I thought there had been a change.

I do not agree with the idea of a private meeting with the US ambassador and I will not attend it.